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Romanian National Anthems, Historical, Stylistic and Aesthetic Considerations

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Romanian National Anthems, Historical, Stylistic and Aesthetic Considerations DOI: 10.2478/ajm-2018-0013 Artes. Journal of Musicology no. 17-18 2018 207-229 Romanian National Anthems, Historical, Stylistic and Aesthetic Considerations Professor PhD CARMEN CHELARU “George Enescu” National University of Arts Iași ROMANIA∗ I express my gratitude towards my American friend, Lady Cello Bennett, for her substantial help in supervising this English version of my essay. Abstract: This text represents an abridgement of an extensive research paper, recently completed, and titled The Song-Symbol, History and Content. About the National Anthems. It has not been long since I wrote about a sensitive subject: that of prejudices in considering and reconsidering history, those which could manipulate (in fact do manipulate!) consciences positively or negatively, and sometimes generate extremist ideas and attitudes (Chelaru, 2017). Following the course of history, a dilemma arose regarding the national anthem, particularly regarding its origins, the circumstances under which a particular anthem was chosen, and above all, comparisons of one anthem to another. From a general point of view, the first observation is that the anthem, especially as it is perceived nowadays in Europe, involves historical meaning, symbols of human communities and nations. As a result, I want to suggest certain improvements towards the current configuration of this musical genre. First I will summarize the history of the Romanian national anthems, beginning with the very first one, adopted during the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, continuing with the monarchic period, then the anthems of communist Romania, and finally the present one, Deșteaptă-te, române! – which is in fact the oldest of all. The main reason I chose this issue does not concern purely academic curiosity; it pursues my entirely subjective interest in the circumstances that prompted Romanians to adopt, over the last century and a half, just these hymns and not others. Keywords: anthem, national, Romanian, Mureșanu, Porumbescu. 1. Introduction Throughout the 18th century, European civilizations – especially Western ones – have accelerated the pace of evolution. The historian Lucian Boia, in his book Două secole de mitologie națională / Two Centuries of National Mythology, observes about the concepts of nation and national: “The history of humanity actually involves two histories /…/ During the first (ed. historic period), people lived closely grouped in small communities. Even the great empires, monstrous conglomerates, were composed of local ∗ [email protected] 207 ethnic groups. /…/ Then, an open world arose, one in which developments occurred faster and faster. This is the modern age. At the middle of the 18th century, these processes accelerated more and more, generation after generation, up until the present day. The traditional structures have cracked and collapsed.”1 (Boia, 2012, p. 7) Beginning with the period of Enlightenment, Europeans entered the modern age, choosing civilization to primitivism, collaboration to confrontation, exchange of ideas and argumentation to violence.... Meanwhile, as a result of the re-drawing of the borders of the various empires, and above all the respective rulers' impositions of forced assimilation of various kinds, people became more conscious of ethnic and cultural affiliations. Thus the spirit of nationalism was born, with all of its consequences. The philosophers of the 18th century Enlightenment, anticipating the modern age, defined concepts and ideas such as: liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional rule, separation of church and state. To the Christian phrase, “Believe and do not doubt”, they replied with sapere aude – “Dare to find out” (Gay, 1996, apud Wikipedia). The Enlightenment period generated the intellectual and cultural advancement of the 19th century, including liberalism and neoclassicism. Step by step, new ideas and influences penetrated Central and Eastern European social communities as well. In Transylvania, for instance, most of the inhabitants were Romanians. In 1701, a remarkable event took place, with major consequences for the Romanian population: the Greek-Catholic Church was founded. Through this new religious institution, Romanian people were given new opportunities, especially access to education (Chelaru, 2016, p. 33). While the 18th century had been marked by innovative ideas, the following century saw Europe’s territorial, political, and cultural structures radically altered by historic events. People became aware of their ethnic affiliations. As a result, social and national anxiety and conflicts increased throughout the 19th century. Concepts such as homeland, love of country, and patriotism took on increasingly greater importance in the sphere of common life. This empowerment of nationalism, with its attendant growing number of conflicts, led to, among other things, the adoption of national symbols: flags, 1 „Istoria omenirii reunește în fapt două istorii /…/ În cea dintâi, oamenii au trăit strâns grupați, în comunități restrânse. Chiar marile imperii, conglomerate monstruoase, nu făceau decât să acopere structuri de viață predominant locale. /…/ Apoi, lucrurile încep să evolueze spre o lume deschisă, și să se miște din ce în ce mai repede. Aceasta este modernitatea. Proces intrat pe la mijlocul secolului al XVIII-lea într-o fază de accelerare, amplificată până astăzi, generație după generație. Structurile tradiționale s-au fisurat, apoi s-au năruit.” 208 emblems, seals, slogans, national colours, and national anthems. In time, importance was also placed on other symbols: national animals and plants, founding personalities, costumes and objects (including musical instruments like Russian balalaika and gusla, or the Scottish bagpipe), dances (Hungarian czardas, Italian tarantella or saltarello, Romanian hora) etc. All these symbols carry specific meanings, historical background and sentimental content, even when the ascribed attributes are not always entirely rational or realistic. In the 19th century, people had acquired the habit of expressing their joy, as well as their dissatisfaction, by gathering in crowds that grew increasingly large over the years. Under these circumstances music became more and more important, and a special repertoire appeared for cheering, stimulating courage and initiative, popular support, war songs, etc. When such music was associated with a historical event favouring the life of a particular community, it became a patriotic song. Nation, Spirit of nationalism, National Specific – the circumstances these concepts emerged in Europe Renaissance Humanistic Philosophy, Arts, Literature centuries 13th – 17th/1 Enlightenment Science, Technique, Economy centuries 17th/2 – 18th Romanticism Revolution, Nationalism, Liberalism 19th century As the above frame shows, a series of stages in the evolution of Western European civilization, from Renaissance to Romanticism, created favourable conditions for the emergence of spirit of nationalism and the accompanying national symbols. 2. Short History of Romanian National Anthems The first national anthems in the world were adopted in Europe, and some national anthems from other continents have European origins as well. Romanians quickly took up the idea from other nations regarding patriotic repertoire, primarily as a result of the historical events of the 19th century2: 1821: The Wallachian Uprising (Southern Romania) against Ottoman rule, led by Tudor Vladimirescu. He issued his first proclamation (January 23), 2 In the Romanian version of this essay I did not include the following enumeration of historical events, considering it to be known. For foreign readers, however, I consider it necessary in order to better understand the Romanian historical context in close connection with the European one. 209 which included references to Enlightenment principles, expressed his commitment to peace with the Ottomans, and banishment of the Phanariote Princes3. 1848: Democratic Revolution in Moldavia and Wallachia, against medieval structures. 1859: Union between Moldavia and Wallachia, under Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. 1866: Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza abdicated. Principatele Unite (United Principalities) became The United Principalities of Romania, under Prince Carol of Romania (Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen)4. 1878: Romania was proclaimed independent of the Ottoman suzerainty. 1881: The Romanian principality was raised to a kingdom and on March 26, Prince Carol became King Carol I of Romania. 1918: At the end of World War I, Transylvania and Bessarabia united with the Romanian Kingdom. 1920: The union of Transylvania, Maramureș, Crișana and Banat with the Kingdom of Romania was ratified by the Treaty of Trianon. Consequently, the second half of the 19th century through the beginning of the twentieth represents the most prolific period regarding Romanian patriotic music, written by Romanian musicians Alexandru Flechtenmacher, Ciprian Porumbescu, Gavriil Musicescu, Gheorghe Dima, Ion Vidu, Dumnitru Georgescu-Kiriac and others. An interesting source of information regarding this issue is Major Marin Sîlea’s book Istoria muzicilor militare (History of Military Music), a detailed analysis of the military music phenomenon in the Carpathian-Danubian territory. Regarding Romanian patriotic songs of the mid-19th century, the author observes: “The authorship of revolutionary songs has always been questioned; poets and the composers tried to hide their identity for reasons of safety and security, and sometimes even out of
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